Tasty China — Restaurant in Ventura

Wow... I never went to the place but had delivery through one of the services. I am from out of state and I have to say this is not anything I ever experienced before.

First things first. The chongquin chicken is new to me. Flavorful? Heck yes. That 5 spices thing is through the roof. It is not really my cup of tea but I suspect it is some original Chinese recipe. I searched on Google. It is. First and last time I will have that 😆. Not because it is spicy but because of that weird 5 spice taste like thing I can't stand personally. Up to you. Try it. Never say you haven't.

Second. The hot and sour soup could indeed benefit from a bit more tofu in it and a bit of flavor. Again. I never went to China and people say this is authentic. In my opinion the whatever meat broth is diluted with water. The ear mushrooms were plenty though so... I guess that kind of balances the pros with the cons. The rice was... rice. Rice is always good as long as it is not fake rice and this is not. It is real. Tastes yummy.

Now the worst of the worst. The prices. As someone else said I do not see a chicken plate, rice and soup with a can of soda (yes thats what you get for $2) to amout to about 25 dollars. Plus another 10 to the delivery service.

Now... I am the one who ordered it and I am not complaining. I tried, I discovered. I am not trying to ruin their rating or fool people this food is so awesome you will climax. Nope. 3 stars as described by Google Maps means it is okay. So yes, main points are: traditional food? I don't know how their real food in mainland China tastes like. Tasty? Yessssish and no. Pricey? Well... for this price I would have eaten 3 times at a taco truck 🤣 which wasn't around darn it or else.... try for yourself. Get something small as not to regret what you spend. Then if you like...

I love this restaurant and this is the only Chinese place I go to in Ventura. I actually travel an extra 10 miles just to come here! All their food is good, my favorite by far is the soup dumplings (long xiao) and you cant get those anywhere else in Ventura! I even tried their "weirder" meals and those are delicious as well. I prefer the Dan Dan noodles to the pork fried rice, but they really are spicy (not weak at all, so if you don't like spicy, don't get them)! It really depends what you are into, if you like sweet the walnut glazed shrimp are good, or their orange chicken (has real orange slices). If I order dumplings I get 2 meals out of just that, and the pork are the best.

Everything is fresh/made to order. The Chinese drink they have (canned, herbal) is also super amazing! I wish they sold it in stores! They have online ordering too. I'd say I come here/order at least once a month, and I don't have that kind of loyalty for any other Ventura business.

The only thing I wish is that they had pork buns that were baked rather than steamed. The steamed ones are still good though, and have a great meat to bun ratio rather than a lot of places in L.A. (In L.A. places the buns tend to have way too much breading, but these ones here are much better & are worth the price)

Don't go to Panda Express when you can help a local business and get way better food for the same price....the people here are always incredibly nice and welcoming. They treat you as a guest, rather...

Great food, but unfortunately, the last couple of times ordering Seafood Soup, there was ZERO squid in the orders, despite the person taking calls saying, "Sorry, it was not enough for you." We weren't looking for money or free food, but an answer if this is the new way it is being made. "Not enough," and NONE are two different things that alter the flavor and not what is advertised. The chef continued to say he put it in there. Both orders were on Monday night. We will try one more time (not on Monday). This remains a great place to eat, but rather information regarding the seafood soup and changes in dish over the last 2 weeks.

Update: Since my review, we have ordered multiple times, excluding Monday, and it was excellent! Back to the amazing deliciousness we enjoy. Then, I absentmindedly ordered on a Monday; I noticed the same issue with a notable decrease in the portion of squid/octopus and shrimp. 😳 I'm not sure if it's simply a coincidence or more to some business practice; just stating facts. The review is to let others know it's so delicious that we're still going and simply...